The Western Conservative Summit is a gathering of the most influential newsmakers of the right. The convention this year is scheduled for June in Denver, where thousands of conservative activists will gather to hear Republican presidential hopefuls like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Pennsylvania Sen Rick Santorum speak. The event is organized by The Centennial Institute, a think tank affiliated with … Read More
Cue Next Right Wing Freakout in 5…4…3…2…
NYT: WASHINGTON — A 17-year-old transgender youth, Leelah Alcorn, stunned her friends and a vast Internet audience in December when she threw herself in front of a tractor-trailer after writing in an online suicide note that religious therapists had tried to convert her back to being a boy. In response, President Obama is calling for an end to such therapies … Read More
“Cake Is Speech”: The New Dumbest Thing Ever Said
Yes, cake is speech. That’s what Indiana Baptist pastor Tim Overton told NPR’s Steve Inskeep yesterday morning, defending his state’s controversial “religious freedom” law. No, it’s not some fringe theory: It’s shaping up as a core tenet of one “compromise” approach to religious freedom laws that’s under consideration, in the wake of the backlash to the Indiana law, which Overton fervently supported … Read More
The Indiana Fix
The proposed new bill working its way through the Indiana state legislature today seems to negate the worst things about the RFRA law: It doesn’t undue Hobby Lobby or other grievances. The changes would not establish sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class under the state’s civil right’s laws. That will have to come another day. All this does is … Read More
Arkansas Governor Wisely Seeks To Avoid Same Headache That Indiana Has
Moments ago, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that he does not plan to sign the version of the religious freedom bill that currently sits on his desk and called on the state legislature to make changes before sending it back to him. Hutchinson, who called the issue “divisive” and cited his own son as an example of someone urging him … Read More
The Indiana “Religious Freedom” Law Isn’t Like Past Laws
Last, week, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence stirred up controversy when he signed a “religious freedom” bill into law. The law has businesses and civil rights groups up in arms and threatening — or in some cases pledging — to boycott the state. Critics assert the law could be used by individuals and businesses to discriminate on the basis of religion — … Read More
It’s Perving and Slut-Shaming Season
Like clockwork, around this time of year, Sean Hannity has the unpleasant job — no, he really hates doing this — of telling his viewers about the terrible terrible debauchery going down in Florida, as students flock to places like South Padre Island or Daytona Beach to drink, do drugs, have wild and glorious hook-up sex — all the things we think … Read More
Indiana Governor Plans To Sign Pro-Discrimination Bill Into Law
Sometime today, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is to sign into law a religious objections bill that would allow discrimination against gay people. [UPDATE: 10:45 am EST – Bill signed] The signing would make Indiana the first state to enact such a change this year among about a dozen where such proposals have been introduced. The measure would prohibit state and local … Read More
A Transgender Suicide
A transgender teenage girl, Leelah Alcorn, died of suicide yesterday by jumping in front of a semi on I-71 near the South Lebanon, Ohio exit. She left a note on her Tumblr: If you are reading this, it means that I have committed suicide and obviously failed to delete this post from my queue. Please don’t be sad, it’s for … Read More
Marriage Equality Setback Might Mean Fast Track To Supreme Court
On Thursday afternoon, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit just became the first federal appeals court in the country to side with marriage discrimination. Although the immediate effect of this court’s 2-1 decision is that marriage equality will not quickly become the law in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, the most important consequence of the Sixth … Read More
Fourth Circuit Overturns Virginia Same-Sex Marriage Ban
The religious right continues losing their reactionary culture war, as a federal appeals court strikes down Virginia’s ban on marriage equality. And this ruling will also affect conservative bans on same-sex marriage in West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, so it’s a significant defeat for the forces of atavism. “We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, … Read More
Calling It Quits
Jimmy LaSalvia co-founded political action group GOProud to prove to America that the Republican Party is a safe home for gay conservatives. But he no longer believes his own arguments. On Monday, he announced on his blog that he could no longer take his own party’s refusal to stand up to bigotry: he was leaving the Republican Party and had registered as … Read More
Poke In The Eye
I hope other nations follow suit. President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced his delegates to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. And, in what may be a thumb in the eye to Russian President Vladimir Putin over his crackdown on gay rights, two of Obama's delegates are openly gay.
Every Viewer Complaint To The FCC About Miley Cyrus (all 161!)
Pretty much what you would expect. The amusing thing to me is that a lot of these people are probably conservative Tea Party types… you know, the ones who hate gubmint because it tries to destroy our freedoms. And yet, here they are asking the FCC to censure. Oh, well. VMA FCC Complaints
Sex Education For Kindergarteners
Whaat???? OUTRAGE!!! NEVER!!! KERFUFFLE!!!!! Wait… maybe I should read up on the facts…. CPS [Chicago Public Schools] insists the curriculum will use language children understand and focus on topics like bullying, correct names for external body parts and the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching. “As you identify body parts, you talk about should you be touched here or … Read More